Looking while unhappy: mood-congruent gaze in young adults, positive gaze in older adults.
Recent findings that older adults gaze toward positively valenced stimuli and away from negatively valenced stimuli have been interpreted as part of their attempts to achieve the goal of feeling good. However, the idea that older adults use gaze to regulate mood, and that their gaze does not simply reflect mood, stands in contrast to evidence of mood-congruent processing in young adults. No previous study has directly linked age-related positive gaze preferences to mood regulation. In this eye-tracking study, older and younger adults in a range of moods viewed synthetic face pairs varying in valence. Younger adults demonstrated mood-congruent gaze, looking more at positive faces when in a good mood and at negative faces when in a bad mood. Older adults displayed mood-incongruent positive gaze, looking toward positive and away from negative faces when in a bad mood. This finding suggests that in older adults, gaze does not reflect mood, but rather is used to regulate it.
Isaacowitz
Derek M
DM
Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454-9110, USA. dmi@brandeis.edu
Toner
Kaitlin
K
Goren
Deborah
D
Wilson
Hugh R
HR
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D055815:Young Adult